For Bobby Petrino, it was being able to read the defense defending the pitch option as an elementary schooler.

He was matter-of-fact when asked if he was truly reading the option as a pre-teen. “Certainly,” he said.

Of course, you may want to take Harry King’s Petrino worship with a grain of salt after reading this amazing statement.

… He mentioned the success of triple option teams Navy and Air Force and said he was interested in how former Navy coach Paul Johnson would do at Georgia Tech. Johnson, 45-29 in six years at Navy, says the Midshipmen played more than 30 schools from Bowl Championship Series conferences. “If it worked at Navy, why wouldn’t it work here?” he said.

Johnson might have to go with freshman Reggie Ball at quarterback; Petrino has Casey Dick, a senior in eligibility, but a freshman in the offense. [Emphasis added.]

7 responses to “Too good to be true.”

Why the need to pick on a GaTech freshman QB? Granted, we’ve had the upper hand of late in the series, but I’ve been watching this kid play for a few years and he’s terrific. Ball was one of the more underratd recruits to come out of the state, and he enrolled early so he participated in spring ball. He was actually the bright spot in the spring, though he didn’t get to play in the spring game. He’s exceptionally athletic and he has a powerful arm – a good enough arm and a sharp enough mind to run a pro style offense but he’ll thrive in Johnson’s Option attack. Tech got themselves a real steal with Ball. I really think the next four years will be difficult for UGA, and Tech might even the series out with Ball running the show.

As an aside, with each passing day my loathing of Bobby Petrino grows. It doesn’t grow by a particularly noteworthy amount. Baby steps, really. But grow it does.